Philippines on alert

The central Philippines province of Leyte, which was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan late last year with more than seven thousand people killed or missing, has been placed under a storm alert.

Several tents of Haiyan survivors have been damaged by rains from Typhoon Rammasun.

Food and other items have been readied by government agencies.

Schools were closed on Tuesday, and thousands of passengers have been stranded as sea travel, and several domestic and international flights have been cancelled in the northern and eastern regions.

The Philippines is hit by about 20 major storms a year, many of them deadly, and Rammasun is the first to make landfall since the rainy season began last month.

Authorities said they were taking every precaution to avoid fatalities, after Super Typhoon Haiyan left about 7,300 people dead or missing when it tore across the central Philippines in November last year.

"We are already warning the public to be on alert for possible effects of the weather disturbance: landslides, flash floods, strong rains and winds," head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Alexander Pama, said.

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